GM Lets Employees Buy Extra Vacation

General Motors sent an e-mail to employees recently notifying them of a policy under which they may buy up to 5 extra vacation days this year. For a sum of $175 per day, a full-time employee can extend his or her time off for another business week. Part-timers can get three days. The offer applies only to salaried workers, but as ideas go, General Motors has done worse.

Last year, the company offered a similar arrangement, but the cost was a full day's pay for a full day off. Despite the unpaid leave quality, over 40,000 salaried workers took extra time last year. This year, one may expect more demand for this arrangement, as many white-collar jobs at GM bring in more than $175 a day.

For the company, the appeal is a smaller compensation bill. If 40,000 workers took an extra week, the company would save $35 million. To a company that measures its revenue in billions, this isn't really all that much. However, what the company gains, in addition to the money, is a workforce that has the option to be better rested, get the kids to the theme park, or deal with family issues.

America's pitiful 2 weeks paid vacation every year, with minimal holidays, personal days and sick leave, often results in a workforce that is over-extended. Indeed, part of the collapse of the American family is the direct result of having both parents at work, and neither of them getting enough time to deal with the chores of everyday life above and beyond a trip to the Grand Canyon or to see the relatives in Ohio.

Employers will moan that America cannot afford the sort of vacation time that the Europeans enjoy (but they never satisfactorily state why). The GM approach, though, solves that problem. It helps the company's bottom-line, and it is optional.

In fact, it puts white-collar workers on a par with the blue-collar factory floor guys. If they need time off, they usually can take it, and it is reflected in a smaller check. Overtime issues are the next to go, but the White House is pushing in the wrong direction. Rather than give the desk-bound some flex-time, the Bush administration is trying to take away over-time payments from some workers. One step forward, one step back.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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